


We Were Wrong

by OMsRandomWriter



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Adult Annabelle Lennox, Adults using adult language, Age of Extinction Elements, Almost everyone is dead, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Annabelle-centric, Apocalypse, BAMF Annabelle Lennox, BAMF Original Character(s), Basically it didn't happen in this story but there's stuff from them I'm using, Canon Divergence - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Character Death, Dark of the Moon Elements, Drinking to Cope, Earth is Dead, F/M, Gen, Hasbro bls send me their names, Humanity is almost dead, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Jazz Lives tho, Jazz lives, Lemme tell you: I have to name the other 9 Knights of Iacon and I hate it, Not Canon Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Autobots left Earth in 2009, The Last Knight Elements, The posh ships from Star Trek??, They were made in a cave what do you expect?, the ships are ghetto af
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-06-28 00:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 12,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15696771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OMsRandomWriter/pseuds/OMsRandomWriter
Summary: What if the President DID force the Autobots to leave Earth before the Fallen returned? What if, almost two decades later, the last bit of humanity ventured into space, desperately searching for the allies they had once exiled themselves?Annabelle Lennox-Centric; NEW SUMMARY FOR ARC 2 BELOW:When I was four, the Matrix of Leadership was found again, and it was used to cause the destruction of Earth’s Sun, which wiped out almost all of Humanity. Only 80,075 remain, scattered throughout of time and space.My mission is simple: Get the Matrix before The Fallen can, however…It’s hard, living with the shadows and ashes of everyone who believed in you, especially when I look around and see everyone is still alive.





	1. Opening

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [We Were Wrong](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/406929) by OMsRandom | Mod Ohma. 



> This was first posted on my transformers headcanon blog, imagine-the-energon.tumblr.com! Long story short I watched ROTF when I was 11 and that's what made me want to start writing for the Transformers Fandom. This little gem has been hidden until now.
> 
> This obviously takes place before Optimus dies in Revenge of the Fallen, but after he delivers the chilling “What if we leave and you’re wrong?” to that asshole Galloway. This is... not a happy story. Far from it in fact. 11 year old me was on the, ah, edgy side when she wrote this.

I can barely remember what the sun, natural warmth, feels like. I was only a kid, not even in elementary school when the sun was destroyed. The giant robots from space, the one with red eyes, they killed everyone they could find before they killed the sun.

Perhaps it was their last bit of mercy.

For the first few weeks, we managed, only because we stocked up should a nuclear war happen. I almost wished that type of war happened. We were told, through the radios that survivors were given, that only hours before the initial attack, our last hope, a small group of blue eyed robots, had been banished, sent into space all because of one man.

The audio logs from that organization were given, passed around to see if any of the survivors could be able to identify and track the group. Mom knew, I could tell by her bloodshot eyes and shaking tone. I was almost four when the attack happened, and seven when the logs reached our bunker.

I was 13 when they found us.

The logs were playing in the background, and I was doing my best to memorize the speaker’s voice, especially the way he spoke.

“ _Freedom is your right. If you make that request, we will honor it. But... before your president decides, please ask him this: what if we leave..._ and you're wrong?”

Mother turned down the radio, hands shaking. “Annabelle, you shouldn’t be listening to that.”

“If I get into the program, I need to recognize how they speak!” I protested, voice quiet as I replayed the robot’s,  _mech’s_  tone.  _We were wrong_ , I thought, praying that, some how, some way, he would hear me.  _We were wrong, and now we’re paying the ultimate price. The same price you paid, all those years ago._

“You’re not getting into the program,” Mom snapped, running a hand through her blonde hair. “I’ve already lost your father to those things, I’m not going to loose you too!”

“Dad knew what he signed up for, and you did too,” I replied, tone quiet. “Mom I... I  _know_  them. I  _know_  I  _know_  them. If anyone can get through to them, it’s me.”

“And if you can’t?” She whispered. “If you get stuck and stranded in space? Annie, please... They left.”

“They were forced to,” I murmured back, but when she opened her mouth, the bunker lights flickered with an explosion, sending dust flying towards us. “Mom-,”

“Get to the safe room,  _now!”_

* * *

 

I was 17 when the Decepticons won.

I was 17 when the Earth finally died.

I was 17 when myself and 80 others were sent aboard the  _Lythrix_  in a desperate attempt to humanity.

I was 17 and  _they were wrong_.


	2. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been 3 years since Humanity has left Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaa, thank you guys so much for the support, it really means a lot!
> 
> I actually have a thing I made from dolldivine that shows what I think Annabelle and Rob Jr. looks like, and it'll be linked shortly after the notes are done!

* * *

 

“ _ Passengers 28 to 40, prepare for shift rotation _ .”

I could hear Robbie jerk awake at the sudden announcement, making me smirk as I finished brushing my teeth, glancing over my shoulder as he shuffled in. “Mornin’ Rob,” I said, unable to stop the laughter in my voice. “How’s that hangover doin’ for you?”

“Awful Annie,” he mumbled with a reply, head resting on my shoulder. Robert Epps Junior was 22, my longest running friend and husband to be. 3 years in space, in close quarters, helped us from when we had been dancing around one another. “What’s today’s schedule?”

“Try to find a habitable planet, wake those in cryo if we find a non-hostile one and try not to die,” I snorted. “Same damn thing. Imagine if we hadn’t been able to figure out the blueprints Optimus left for  _ us _ . We’d finally reach Saturn by now.” At the reminder of the Autobots, Rob straightened.

“Do you think they’ll still remember us? I… barely remember Sideswipe,” he asked hesitantly.

“Mom… mom said Ironhide  _ loved _ to be around me. Said that I reminded him of when he had kids.” He let out a hum and nuzzled my neck before stepping back into the mirror’s sights. His skin was marred with puckered scars from a mix of a Decepticon’s weapon and a ship malfunction, and due to his lack of shirt, I could easily see the mecha-scorpion on him that labeled him as passenger 35. His hair, while it was always a wild mess, seemed even more messier as he poked at his arm.

“How much longer do you think I’ll be stuck on Bridge Duty Annie?” he whined, as I latched my silver ranking on.

“Three weeks,” I replied, looking up from the clasp with a smirk. “Four if you keep poking at it.” He let out a huff of a laugh, gently placing the Command Circlet shortly after I shrugged on my father’s jacket and pulled my hair off my collar. “I love you,” I whispered as his hands caught mine.

“I love you too,” he murmured, giving a sweet kiss. “Now go out there and show them non-believers why you’re ‘Draco’ for a reason.”

“ _ Shift Rotation at Oh-nine hundred. _ ”

“And there’s my cue,” I chuckled before calling over my shoulder as I left our quarter.. “Don’t be too long. You know how limited coffee is limited right now.”

* * *

“Draco on the Bridge!” Iggy --  _ yes _ , that was both her name and nickname, Iguana -- called as I opened the door, taking a look at the others in the room. Husky and Eagle were piloting, while Iggy and Moth were working with last shift’s Ladybug and Fox on a signal. With Rob, er,  _ Scorpion _ , not yet on the bridge, I was to ensure the previous Shift Commander, Wolf, filed all reports that passed through to her. Usually they ranged from 10 to 100, depending on the shift and what went down. Seeing as it had to be a minimum of five pages per report, I was looking at perhaps 500 pages of pure caffeine induced craziness to thumb through by myself.

In short, it was  _ hell _ .

And, like everything else on the ship, the bridge was ghetto, what with the stations and seats being bolted down with makeshift seat belts to help hold the crew down. And, being the Commander, I had the “Yes Ma’am” Desk, which was a solid pine desk that was barely bolted to the floor, and let me tell you: you do  _ not _ want to be On Shift when we have to do evasive maneuvers. Papers go  _ everywhere _ .

Shaking my head, I went to the desk and suppressed a shudder at the sight of the folders in front of me. Opening the first one, an engineering report begging for Scorpion to come back on active duty I smirked, placed the  _ denied _ on the request and moved the the next, feeling my head start to implode at the sudden scientific words.

“Scorpion on the bridge!” Iggy’s voice cut through the mush of words and I snapped the folder closed.

“Oh thank God,” I said, turning to Scorpion, who was dressed in his ragged uniform, the silver ranking vest, similar to mine but on his opposite side, shifted slightly as to let his wounds breathe without bandages. “That’s unwise Scorpion. They should be bandaged.”

“They need to breathe, and the Bridge is the second cleanest area on this ship,” he countered, making me roll my eyes. The two pilots chuckled as they throttled the ship forward, and the two from last Shift finally left, allowing me to taking a slow and steady deep breath.

Today felt like a good day.


	3. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dragon Commander receives some news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all who supported last chapter! It means a lot to me! And, yes, there's references to DOTM, AOE and TLK, mainly because while I didn't really like them, they hold key plot points and characters that help further this story.
> 
> Also, only 4 of the Knights of Iacon are mentioned, so anyone after the first four (Dragonicus, Skullitron, Stormreign and Steelbane) have names from a name generator. Oh, and apparently Dragonicus, despite his name, is not the leader. talk about misleading, lol

“Well?” I asked as the door wriggled open, revealing a grinning Robbie.

“I’m on full active duty!” He replied, and his grin was infectious as I looked up.

“Aw, are you _sure_ you can’t help me with reports anymore?” I asked, looking up at him from under my lashes. He had a wicked grin that I knew too well.

“Oh I’ll help you,” he started before lunging forward and picking me up, spinning as he did so. “I’ll send _dozens_ your way.”

“You, my dear, are a _cruel_ man.” I murmured.

* * *

“Draco on the Bridge!” Iggy called, and much to my surprise, Wolf was still at her desk, looking tense as her black circlet stood out against her white hair.

“Commander Wolf,” I greeted. “Working overtime?”

“Commander Dragon,” she echoed, looking up. I was shocked at how… _haggard_ she appeared. “Word from the Knights just came through. They’ve found an echo trail similar to the Autobot ship _Xantium_.” It was like all the oxygen left, and it was suddenly impossible to breathe. The Knights of Iacon, our only reason why we were able to leave Earth and still not be stuck in the solar system, had found a lead.

 _My_ Knights had found a lead. There was, of course, a reason why _I_ was the Dragon, and it was all to do with when I was thirteen, and my mother… “Are they tracking _Xantium_ together or separately?” I demanded, grabbing the padd used for communicating with the Knights.

“Separately. Six are still with us in case the Decepticons find us while the other seven are searching different trails to see which planet they’re on.” she replied in a tired tone.

“They’re in this system,” I breathed, reading the report myself. “Wolf, once you’ve finished your report, take the next two days off. Same for your crew.”

“Yes, Lady Commander.” she answered with a small grin, using the one title I hated. “Is that everything?”

“Yes, you may be excused,” I answered, taking her spot and rereading the report. _Don’t worry Mama, Papa, we found their trail. We almost got them._ “We’re almost free,”

* * *

Dragonicus was waiting for me as I entered the Knight’s Quarters. He bowed his head at the staff attached to my back, and I glanced out the window towards where the Cryo Bay sat. “How does everyone fair?” I asked as Skullitron, Stormreign and Steelbane entered from the opposing door.

“As of now, within acceptable parameters.” Stormreign, the leader and one who chose me, answered. “However, youngling, should the Decepticons find that we have split,”

“I know, Storm,” I cut in. “But you said so yourself; we’re close to the Autobots, _they’re in this system_ .” Flameraid and Seaglitch came in a half second later, giving me a good idea on who was gone. _Crossflare is gone. That’s why he’s so upset about this_. “I’m sure ‘Flare will be back soon. You know how he’s like.”

‘Raid and Sea snickered at their leader’s body language, and I couldn’t help but follow. Storm and Flare weren’t mates like Raid and Sea were yet, and I took every chance to tease them as I could, as I was probably one of two humans they wouldn’t dare try to squish. “Annie, one of these days, you’re going to regret teasing them,” Robbie commented from the doorway. “We got word from the bridge from Divebomb.” Just as he said this, I saw the Knights stiffen.

“And?” I asked, looking between them.

“She found them. Divebomb found the Autobots.”


	4. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations to go planet-side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all who supported last chapter! It means a lot to me, especially the reviews encouraging me to continue writing! <3

I glanced at my HUD and grimaced, a sense of dulled excitement building as Jaguar and Llama walked into the bay. Our suits, thanks to the Knights, looked closer to combat gear than space wear, but it was less bulky and allowed us to communicate more clearly.

“Iggs said you found a trail?” Jag asked, her voice quiet. I nodded and they gained small smiles. “Who else is coming?”

“Bunny and Meerkat.” Scorpion answered from where he was finishing up on the recalibrations for the shuttle. “A small team of five, enough firepower to get by should things go belly-up, but small enough to where the Autobots won’t see you as an actual threat.”

“But either way we should be cautious,” I added. “We have no idea what is planetside, and with the Ion storm in the stratosphere, we won’t be able to contact the bridge until it passes, which could be anywhere from hours to even weeks. There’s no guarantee that even if we do reach the Autobots that they’ll let us stay with them, much less grant us an audience with Optimus Prime.”

“That’s assuming that this group of Autobots is the one with Optimus at all,” Scorpion piped up. “There were hundreds of Autobots by last count before they left Earth, and it would be our luck to find ‘bots that can’t contact Prime.”

“Thank you, Scorpion, for jinxing us,” I informed him dryly, making him smirk at us and wink. Cheeky asshole. “We leave at 1500, so now is the time to say your farewells to any friends or family for the next two weeks.

* * *

“I love you,” Robbie murmured as we stood in the middle of our quarters, foreheads connected and arms around one another. “Don’t be a hero Annie. Don’t be like our fathers.”

At the mention of Will and Robert Senior, I felt my heart break. I was almost four when they died and because of this, I didn’t remember them, but Robbie was a few years older than me. He had been with his mother on base when the attack happened, and as a result he had seen them perish. “And leave you to take over my command? Never,” I promised, shifting to nuzzle his neck. I didn’t want him to see my tearful eyes; it always broke him when I cried. “Robbie, the Fallen, when I was captured, I overheard him and Megadouche talking. What if what they said was  _ true _ ? What if Optimus really is…” I trailed off, choking up and his arms wrapped around me tighter.

“Then we go to the others, the ones we know will take us.”

“In the Rhaki galaxy? It would take a decade to even get there; there’s no way to guarantee that by the time we get there, they will want us anymore.”

“But there’s that relay over by Mars. They told us how to repair it.”

“Robbie, it’s by  _ Mars _ . That means going  _ back _ , into Decepticon territory. Humanity is barely hanging on as is, if we go back, we’re  _ dead _ . Our entire race, gone with a single, well aimed missile.”

“I know, Annie, believe me,  _ I know _ . But if going back is our only option, well, we won’t exactly have a choice.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He was right, but she just… didn’t want to hear it. What they had said, it  _ had _ to be a lie, to make her break. “Let’s not leave with an argue,” he murmured, voice soft. “Don’t be a hero.”

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything else but “I love you too,” back, as a sharp sense of foreboding lurked over my shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little fun-fact about Annabelle in this fic: she was a POW when she was 13 and was held captive for almost a year and a half. When the Knights rescued her and gave her Merlin's Staff, she also had to get her right arm and leg augmented with a whole ton of Cybertronian cybernetics so that she could use them again due to a certain thing Scalpel did to her.
> 
> Anyways, if you like the fun-fact of the story, and this chapter, please subscribe or even comment and give it a kudos!


	5. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabelle makes a few decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, Thank you all for your wonderful words about WWW! It means a lot to me, <3
> 
> A 2k worded chapter two days early because I missed last weeks date. Hope you enjoy!

As soon as we landed, the storm cut almost all electronics with the exception of the Cybertronian ones, which was a godsend and a half as I don’t think I’d be able to lead the mission with only one working arm and leg. “Meerkat, Llama, see if you can get the extensions for the shuttle to work. Bunny, try to keep an eye on the radar to see if the scanners can cut past the interference for Spark Signatures. Jag,” the woman in question looked up, eyes shining. “Suit up; you’re with me on perimeter.”

“Roger that, Commander Draco.”

* * *

I squinted at the makeshift scanner as I ran it up and down the rock where the signal was supposed to be coming, confusion building as it said that there was something Cybertronian in it. “Bunny, you got anything?”

“ _ Commander, I’m getting a signal twenty miles south that match a spark signature! It appears to be fading in and out _ .” she replied quickly. “ _ I recommend moving the shuttle closer and calling Stormreign and Steelbane in so that they can carry the Autobot back to the ship for repairs. _ ”

“Understood Bunny. The rest of you, return to the shuttle. We have an Autobot to rescue.” At their confirmations, I spared another glance towards the rock, a heavy feeling coming over me. What if this was a trap? Sparing a glance around, I took the end of her gun and slammed it against the stone, grinning as a crack big enough to slip my hand through formed. Reaching in, I felt the piece of tech and used my cybernetic arm to pull it out, frowning at what I saw. 

“ _ Commander, everyone is accounted for except you. _ ” Jag’s voice cut through my thoughts and made me jolt.

“Apologies. I got sidetracked for a second. ETA five minutes.”

* * *

Putting on the Eco-Mask was the last thing I wanted to do, but the distressed spark signal was coming from the middle of the storm, so while Meerkat and Bunny stayed in the shuttle to contact the Knights, Llama and Jaguar followed me as we waded through all types of dead foilage, finally coming to a clearing. In the middle were two mechs, a cherry red one and a sunshine gold one. Baffled, my gun lowered for half a second as I searched for facial recognition. The red one came up as Sideswipe, who was last seen with silver armoring. Would that make the gold one his twin, Sunstreaker?

“You… you’re humans?” Sideswipe’s voice had me gripping the gun a bit more tightly, but I nodded. “Why are you hear? Haven’t you done enough?” The pure desperation, sorrow and hate in his tone had my heart clenching and I took a deep breath before holstering my weapon, reaching up to unlatch the helm.

“Commander, we have no idea what the storm will do if you do that!” Llama hissed, having holstered his weapon as well. His voice was distorted, and it sounded… wrong. I didn’t want the mechs to think I was more of a threat than I really was.

Taking a deep breath, I undid the helm and took it off, feeling my hair fall from it’s bun. “Sideswipe, yes?” I asked, feeling my throat tingle as I had to raise it in order to cut through the storm. “I am the Dragon Commander. Earth is dead, killed by the Decepticons. We found a spark in distress, and with allies aboard our ship, we thought you might like it if we were able to stabilize your brother.”

“These allies, who are they?” He demanded, though there was a spark of hope in his optics. In reply, I heard Dragonstorm let out a roar, flying towards us with only one head. “Knights of Iacon? They’re real?”

“Real, and willing to aide you two. Their base is on our ship, as well as fresh energon and medical supplies.”

* * *

“You’re an idiot, I hope you know that,”

I let out a little laugh at Scorpion’s words from the other side of Quarantine, well aware that while he meant it, he meant it lovingly. “Yeah, but I’m your idiot. I got Sideswipe and Sunstreaker safe and away from that Ion storm, so maybe they’ll help take us to Optimus.”

“Maybe,” he murmured, resting his head on the glass, and a half second later, I did the same thing. “I love you Annabelle.”

I felt a small smile show on my face as I stared at him intensely, trying to memorize the soft look on his face. “And I you, Robert.”

* * *

By the time I was cleared to leave Quarantine, Sunstreaker had been treated and both were online and completely replenished with Energon. And yet… and yet…

It felt like a hallow victory as I stared at the report in front of me.

_ Estimated Earth Date August 23rd, 2010, 1239: Optimus Prime has been offlined. The Autobots are no more _ . 

“Damnit…” I whispered, reading the report over and over again.

_ Optimus Prime has been offlined… _

“ _ Damnit _ …”

_ The Autobots are no more… _

“ _ DAMNIT ALL! _ ”

* * *

Robbie came back just in time for me to fall to my knees, our room thoroughly trashed. “Annabelle?” he gasped out, rushing forward. “What’s wrong?” I didn’t trust myself to say anything, so instead, I shakily held out the report, watching as his features grew grimmer and grimmer. “So what now? We go to Rhaki?”

“No,” I instantly shot down, grief and self-disappointment swimming in my head. “We go in search of the others. Ironhide, Ratchet, Jazz, they were part of the top command for the Autobots. We have to find them.”

“Annie,” he whispered. “Our mission failed. Rhaki is the only way.”

I stared at the report, hand going to the dogtags around my neck. “There’s always another choice,” I found myself saying quietly. “Have you ever wondered how Megatron was able to be revived? How Blackout and Barricade came back after we saw them offline with our own eyes?”

“I’d assume the Allspark,” he said quietly. “But as far as I know, there were only two shards left, and the Autobots left with one.”

“I think… I think it has something to do with The Fallen. A-according to the… the report, he came to Earth the same day that…” I trailed off, eyes shutting and fists clenching. “There’s something else going on, Robert. Something bigger that we’re not paying attention to.”

* * *

_ Annabelle Lennox... _

There was something in the air, something that made me walk closer towards the ever bright light.

_ Annabelle Lennox… _

“I’m here,” I whispered, reaching forward. A warm sensation crawled up my arm, and I watched in fascination as white Cybertronian runes tattooed themselves onto my skin before fading away. In a brilliant flash, the light disappeared, showing a teenager I just barely remembered. “S-Sam? Sam Witwicky?”

“ _ Annabelle Lennox, you have been chosen. _ ” He offered his hand, with a sad sort of smile. “ _ While I am not the Sam you know, I am a part of him, and before that, I was once a part of Optimus Prime. _ ”

I furrowed my brows, mouthing the words back before I felt something…  _ click _ almost. “You’re Primus. You’re what it means to be a Prime.”

“ _ Yes, but no. I am only a part, a fraction of a whole. Fate changed her mind at the last second, when she should have kept steady, and because of this, I am no longer as I should be. _ ”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” I mumbled, feeling something churning my gut. “Why are you contacting me, a human, instead of one of your own?”

“ _ You are the last hope of many, including me, Dear Child. You are right to believe that there is another way, but the path before you is dangerous, and lonely, as such is being the price of Prime. _ ”

“So there’s a way to revive Optimus? Is there a way to bring back Earth and Cybertron?” I demanded, a small hope starting to bloom.

“ _ No. Earth, even with a God’s blessing, would not survive for long, and to bring back my former body would begin a collapse in the core. I am sorry, truly, but those worlds  _ must _ stay dead. _ ”

I stared at his still outstretched hand, debating. “What does it mean, to be a Prime?” I finally asked, quietly.

“ _ That, I’m afraid, is only something you can answer. _ ” His response left me burning with more questions, but I took a deep breath.

“Will becoming the next Prime make it easier to find the rest of the Autobots?”

“ _ Should you wish it, yes. _ ”

With a tense nod, I put my hand with his and almost collapsed from the burning pain that coursed through me. Unable to stop my scream, I could faintly hear Robbie yelling for medics in the background. Finally, the pain stopped and I found myself on a stretcher, gazing at the ceiling.

_ It is done. Thank you, my child. _

* * *

If anyone said anything about me having to be wheeled out of my quarters, no one said it to my face, especially as I was able to direct the next jump towards another series of planets in this system, aiming towards one of the larger moons.

“Are you certain they’ll be here?” Robert asked during our lunch hour as I poked at the food, not very hungry. I closed my eyes and tugged on the golden thread that had appeared the night before, grinning slightly as I felt shock and amazement flow back.

“Yes, I’m certain.” I answered before forcing myself to take a bite. He got up from the table and I felt a sharp stabbing pain of doubt. “I love you, you know that, right?”

“Always. I love you too,” he replied with a blinding grin and kissing my nose. I could hear a few privates coo, and when I glanced over my shoulder, they quickly turned back to their meals, making me smile myself.

* * *

The Autobots -- Jazz, Ratchet, Ironhide, Bumblebee and a black and white mech I couldn’t identify -- were waiting for us as we landed the ship itself, and I could feel their confusion and slight horror from the state of it. Ensuring that all Commanders and their XOs had our best Formal wear on, we were the first ones to march, ensuring that our hands were above our heads at all time. I was the last out alongside Scorpion, and as we came into view, I saw their panic turn into anger.

“You have  _ younglings _ in command?” Ratchet sounded aghast and I forced myself not to give myself away then and there, though it probably didn’t help that my command circlet was bigger, brighter than the others.

“Going by their helm adornments, the last two are in charge of the ship as a whole, while the others are subsystems.” I saw the others tense up, most likely wanting to look back at me for a reaction. Instead, I forced myself to stay calm as those not in Cryo slowly started to step back onto land for the first time in years, eyes wide with wonder and a hint of fear as they milled around the ship. Deciding it best to keep space between them, the ‘Bots led us away and allowed us to lower our arms, where I had to listen to Grizzly and Ironhide bicker about what to do with the other.

_ Jesus fucking Christ what the hell is wrong with him? _

I glanced around at the adults desperately trying to keep the children away from the conversation that was happening in front of them. “For God’s sake, this isn’t getting us anywhere,” I snapped, pushing passed the others to stand in front of the Autobots. 

“Draco!” Grizzly snapped, but I ignored him.

“Either you agree to help us or not. We were wrong to do everything we did against you, and now we’re suffering for it. Earth is dead and the Decepticons are on their way here. Either you help us, or you watch the last of our species die in front of you.”

“Bold words for a human,” the black mech snorted. “What’s your name?”

“My mama raised me to take no shit, and I’m Annabelle.” I saw something flash in their optics as a toothy grin began to show on my face. “Annabelle Lennox.”


	6. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Autobots React (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for doing another 2 week delay; I've been busy with life, and since it's interfered with WWW, y'all deserve to know what's up.
> 
> For those who don't know, I haven't been able to eat for the past few months. Or, rather, I can eat, but I'll suffer severe cramps and it'll feel like there's a giant hole in my stomach where the food it. I've seen a gastroenterologist and he did a scope/biopsy of my stomach with immediate results. There's definitely something wrong with my stomach, and he wanted me to get a CT (Cat) Scan with contrast to ensure it's not cancer.
> 
> My scan was Friday, September 28th, 2018, and the reason why the latest chapter wasn't uploaded last Thursday was because I was busy scheduling out my week. Friday was a cat scan, Today was a dentist appointment and Thursday my sister will be induced.
> 
> That being said, I'd like to thank you guys for staying with my story through my silence.

“Daughter of William Lennox?” Jazz asked, making me scowl. “How is he? Where is he?”

“Dead on Earth.” I shrugged, ignoring the small sting it brought before glancing up at the unknown mech. “Before I say anymore, I need to know who you are.”

“Prowl, Autobot Second in Command,” Bumblebee gave.

“ _ Ex- _ Autobot.” Ratchet corrected. “We are no more.”

“Well then, I’ll start simple: Prowl was correct in his assessment for at least one part. My given name is Annabelle Lennox, but my codename, my commanding name, is Draco.” I began.

“Commander Draco was a Decepticon POW for almost a year, and during that time, she collected more intel that we ever thought possible.” Wolf pipped up. “It was also during that time that allies of old emerged from their sleep and started liberating the War Camps. They took Draco in and together, we were able to leave Earth before it died.”

“Thank you Commander Wolf,” I said, grimacing. “We picked up two distressed Autobots a week ago, if it interests you. Sideswipe, and his twin, Sunstreaker. They were caught in an ion storm, and if we had been a second later, they would have perished.”

“Where are they now?” Ratchet demanded, straightening.

“They are with Dragonstorm in holding bay 3. You may visit them, if you wish.” At his tense nod, I turned to Scorpion. “Scorpion will take you. It will allow you to catch up, after all.” He grinned at me and saluted before jogging off to follow Ratchet.

“Who is ‘Scorpion’, Annabelle?” Jazz asked.

“Scorpion is my Second in Command when it is my shift to run the ship. And please, while I’m on duty, call me Draco.” I answered, partially turning to the other commanders. “Please ensure the Cyro Pods don’t stop just yet. I’m afraid we still have a while to go before we can begin the thaw process.”

“Yes Commander Draco,” they chimed and the Autobots had the sense to stay silent as they returned to the others, taking off their command circlets as they did so.

“Why ‘Draco’?” Bumblebee asked, and I turned to him questioningly. “For your codename.”

“Oh, no, my actual code name is Dragon, but Draco is easier to shout in a hurry.” I laughed before tugging up the top half of my dress uniform, revealing the metalic three headed dragon that was tattooed on me. “Everyone over the age of eighteen has a call sign, which is an animal from Earth. Or, at least, a legend from Earth.”

“That style is certainly… unique.” I grinned at Ironhide’s tone, especially as I felt Stormreign walk up behind me.

“I trust Ratchet is satisfied with how we’ve treated the twins?” I asked, looking up in time to see him nod.

“Are these the ones you have been searching for?” He rumbled. At my own nod, he vented and narrowed his optics towards the Autobots. “Humans learned in the worst way what it meant to try to back out of this silly war. Do not let another species go extinct due to it.”

* * *

I was walking towards Stormreign when Ironhide stepped into my view, causing me to stop as the mech saw me. “Ironhide,” I greeted. “Do you require something?”

“Youngling, I was hoping to talk.” At my nod, we went into the area he returned from, which was a secondary Cybertronian bay for the Autobots. “How much do you remember?”

“I was very young when the Decepticons wiped NEST.” I hedged. “Robbie is a better human to ask if you don’t want to wake those in Cryo.”

“Robbie? Robert Epps?”

“Junior.” I clarified. “Robert Epps Senior was the one you worked with. Robbie is his youngest son.” I shuffled my feet, unsure what to say next.

“And your carrier?”

_ Mother _ , a small part of me cried, causing me to clench my jaw and bite back tears. “Missing. We… think the Decepticons captured her along with me but by the time the Knights came…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “By the time they came, I was the only human left alive.”

I opened my eyes just in time to see him kneel down, gently using one hand to ‘embrace’ me. “I am sorry youngling,” he murmured. Ironhide felt like home, like Mom’s warm hug that always had me relaxing. Like the ever fading memories of a man’s laughter and voice singing me to sleep. As I stood there, hugging one of his digits, shaking at the memories, I knew what I had to do.

I had to return to Earth one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact of the story for week: Optimus and Elita were Conjunx Endurae while Ironhide and Chromia aren't together/Sparkmates/Conjunx Endurae... yet


	7. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabelle reacts (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaayyyeee, im uploading this on my phone at the hospital with my sister so sorry for any spelling mistakes.

The bridge was quiet as I walked in, all eyes downcasted as I went to my desk, where Scorpion was waiting. As I moved to sit down, he gently grasped my forearms and pulled me into a tight hug, smashing my face into his shoulder. PDA while on shift wasn’t exactly disallowed, but we never really did it unless it was truly needed.

And right now it was the one thing I needed most.

The bridge was silent as I began to cry, Scorpion rubbing my back gently as I twisted his shirt in my hands. “I did all of this,” I whispered. “I froze over 80,000 people and shot us off into space for what? To be told that our only chance is dead?  _ I did this. _ ”

“It’s ok Annie,” he mumbled in my ear as I pressed my face into his scarred shoulder. “It’s ok, I promise. Everything will be fine.” I felt another pair of arms surround me and looked up to see a misty eyed Iggy smiling at me. Slowly, the others who could joined. Seperate by countries, we were weak and never stood a chance, but together, as one species…

We were strong, and our chances doubled.

* * *

My hand shook as I took the data pad from Prowl. If he saw it, which I knew he did, he didn’t mention it. “This holds… a report on what happened?” I asked, swallowing thickly.

“In a sense,” the mech replied. “Cybertronians are different from humans. We have the ability to upload certain memories to ensure facts remain facts.” Something harsh was stabbing away at my chest as I almost dropped the pad.

“This… is a  _ video _ ?” I whispered in horror. “I thought this was just going to be a standard report.”

“It is a-,” the mech cut himself off. “You wished for a human standard report. I apologise.”

“It… it’s fine Prowl. This will… this will suffice. Thank you for allowing me access.” At my words, he nodded and dismissed me, allowing me to leave his makeshift office and stagger down the hall.

“Commander Draco, are you alright ma’am?” Falcon asked as she turned the corner to find me leaning against the wall, wiping my face.

“I’m fine Private,” I replied, standing up straight. As I got to my quarters, however, I sat down at the desk and stared at the pad, biting my lip. Did I really want to do this? No, not really. Did I  _ have _ to do this? Yes. Grabbing the whiskey and a glass, I took a deep breath before activating the pad.

* * *

Jazz stood beside Optimus nervously, his visor picking up any and all movement from the opposite side of the valley. “Are you sure that he will come after you and not the humans?” Bumblebee asked softly, gazing every now and then at the holo attached to his wrist. On it was an image of the yellow mech and whis two charges, Samuel Witwicky and Mikaela Banes.

“Forget about humanity, Bumblebee.” The silver mech jolted in shock at the harsh words that came from their normally kind leader. “They chose to remove us from their planet and by that, they chose the decepticons over us autobots.”

“Optimus, we know that’s not true.” Ironhide pleaded quietly.  Distinctly, the silver mech remembered him pleading with Prime that the human family he was supposed to be protecting needed to go with them, that little ‘Belle was something special.

“Whether it’s true or not we’re not allowed back.” Sideswipe mumbled from where he was brooding beside Sunstreaker, a holo similar to Bumblebee between them, showing the ever smiling Epps family.  He felt his spark clench and looked away, turning back towards the valley.

“What if we did go back,” Ratchet asked. “And humanity was destroyed? All because we made one mistake and instead of staying to fix it, we left them to die the one way we swore would never happen again?”

“The odds of the Matrix being on Earth are astronomical, especially considering that the Allspark was found planetside as well.” Prowl pipped up from where he was at Jazz’s side.

“Don’t underestimate humans Prowler,” Jazz said, quickly remembering that the mech hadn’t gotten to Earth in time to meet everyone. “One of them killed Megatron.”

“And yet he still lives.” He replied in a dry tone that almost had the smaller mech laughing. A few klicks passed before he backed away, the other mech following him.

“Prowl, I-I’d like to tell you something.” He vented as words failed him. “I lo-.”

“ _ Decepticons! _ ” Ironhide yelled.

The two mechs raced back to their positions, drawing out their weapons as around a hundred ‘Cons crawled and flew down the valley’s walls. They had little preparation as they seemed to swarm around the small team within nanoklicks.

He wasn’t sure where they were all coming from, only that for everyone one offlined, another leapt forward to take their fallen comrade’s place. He could feel his systems grow sluggish, and as he glanced around, a sickening feeling settled in his tanks.

There, at the edge of the cliffs, were several Decepticons with wires that were heading right for… “ _ Optimus! _ ” He yelled out just as his system was given an electric shock. His systems shut down a milliklick later.

* * *

Elita was cutting the neck cables of a brown colored ‘con when she heard Jazz’s cry, and she turned just in time to see her Conjunx behind attacked from behind, dozens of wires and cables wrapping around his servos and neck. The seekers within the group shot up, holding the lines, and she watched in horror as her mate struggled to get fresh air into his vents, struggling to move his arms to get the wires to loosen.

She didn’t notice the ‘Cons holding her back as a seemingly decrepit, black mech warped in front of Optimus holding two objects that made her energon run cold. One she knew from her femmeling stages, when she went to Iacon and cared for the Allspark as well as several other relics for an orn. The other she only knew from stories, whispers of an era lost to time.

_ The Matrix of Leadership, _ her processor whispered.  _ The only thing that can claim a Prime’s Spark for good. _

“Optimus Prime,” the mech hissed, holding up the last shard of the Allspark. “I’ve long awaited for this day.”

Distantly, she could feel recognition from the bond as Optimus said something that had the old mech slashing at his chest piece with a wicked looking sword like staff.  **_Orion!_ ** She yelled over the bond just to have it slam shut in her face.

Even with the bond shut, it did little to stop the excruciating pain as Bumblebee screamed out for his mech creator.

* * *

I stared at the empty bottle that once had whiskey, bitter that I couldn’t get drunk anymore, before blinking slowly and standing up, shakily moving towards the bathroom and spewing my guts into the toilet. As I wiped the vomit off of my lips and washed my mouth out, there was a knock at the door. “Commander Draco?” It was Wolf -- Wynnifer.

“Enter, please.” I rasped out, and I saw her grimace as I met her in the main room. “Sorry, I just… finished the report.” Blinking furiously, I saw her face soften almost immediately. “Did you know a standard report for Cybertronians includes videos? I just watched Optimus Prime get quartered and then his armor tore off. Even  _ Megatron _ had to look away.”

“They were twins.” she murmured, gently taking my hands and pulling me to the bed. “Is it true, the rumors? Can you truly find a way to bring him back?”

“With the way he was killed? Hell if I know. I don’t even know if they put him together again.” I said with a bitter laugh. “I have the power of Primus at my fingertips, a power that comes with being a Prime, and I can’t even use it to bring the Earth back.”

Wynnifer took a lock of my hair that fell into my face and gently tucked it behind my ear, smiling softly. “You can do it, Annabelle. If there’s anything that serving with the U.E.S. has told me, it’s that you and those around you can do anything should you put your mind to it. We all came to the acceptance that Earth was dead as soon as the Sun went out, it just took a few more years to act on it. You’ve done wonderfully, and your parents would be so proud if they could see you now.”

I closed my eyes and leaned into her hand, smiling slightly. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact for this chapter: The Well of Sparks takes normal sparks and houses them, but only the Matrix of Leadership may take a spark of a Prime so that their knowledge is not lost to time.


	8. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Climax, Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Early chapter because these next 3 chapters are part of the 3 part climax!

“Are you sure this is the way to go?” Jackal murmured as we all stood in front of our lockers, suiting up. I spared a glance towards the Cryo bay, which, instead of pods, now held a grey protoform that was once Optimus Prime. Eighty replacements had been woken to guard the others with half of the ‘bots while the main 80 of us took the ship towards the Sol system.

Towards the last known location of Earth.

“It’s the only way to the Fallen,” I countered quietly as Scorpion stood beside me, weaving our hands together. “If we can get the Matrix, we can get Optimus back, and we can finally stand a chance against Megatron and the Fallen.” I swallowed thickly as Sparrow and a few others nodded. “I can’t guarantee that you will survive. Without the sun, the Earth will be nothing but a primordial waste land. Temperature will be, at most 199 kelvin, give or take 3 kelvin. The moon will not be visible, and we will have to rely on our lanterns to have any sense of visibility.”

“Won’t that reveal us to the Decepticons?” Gargoyle pipped up from where he stood in the back.

“Unfortunately. This is why we have teams; those on the ground and those staying on the ship. Those on the ship will be aiding the ground team through Dragonstorm as well as scans, letting them know when to turn off their lights. Dragonstorm will be four separate dragons and will be providing distractions to allow Team Echo to slip into the decepticon’s camps.”

“Once there you’ll have three earth hours to find the Matrix,” Scorpion piped up, bringing up the holo of the twisted metal hovering in the Fallen’s servos. “After the three hours, you’ll scatter and rendezvous at your given coordinates fifty clicks away from the Decepticon base. Failure to do so will result in being caught in the bombing.”

“Who is leading what team?”

I took a deep breath and squeezed Scorpion’s hand. “Scorpion will be leading Team Echo, while I will be staying behind to command Team Zulu.”

* * *

“It’s not too late,” Scorpion said quietly as we laid in bed later. “We can still get to that Mass Relay thing.”

“If we do that we’re leaving the Cybertronians to die. The Council said they didn’t allow AIs, and I’m sure they wouldn’t even allow us to explain before they exile us back.” I mumbled, feeling horrible for even considering his words. “I’m tied to them as their only Prime. They die off,”

“And you go with them.” he finished, pressing his face into my shoulder. “I don’t want you in danger.”

“We’re soldiers Robbie.” I reminded him quietly. I was not prepared for what came next.

“ _ We shouldn’t have to be! _ ” He snapped, making me jump at his sudden outburst. It was very unlike him, and it made me pull away enough to see frustrated and scared tears. “We’re  _ kids _ , Annie. You weren’t even  _ five _ when all of this began. You don’t know what all happened; what all hasn’t been released from the day the Autobots left.”

“If there was more information, why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.

“Because when the topic of finding the Autobots came up, you were always so passionate; you were determined. You had a spark I hadn’t seen since-.”

“I got kidnapped.” I finished quietly. A thick silence filled the air around us as I stared at our intertwined hands. “What did they do? What wasn’t talked about?”

“Later,” he murmured, gently taking his hand away from mine. “After we get Optimus back up and running. We’ll need all we can get tomorrow.”

“And then when we’re done, we’ll find a new world and finally get married.” I replied in the same tone. “I think everyone awake would throw a fit if we weren’t the first ones.”

“Can you imagine the reception? How are we going to make a cake that big?” he snorted, and as we grinned at one another, I felt some of my tension slowly bleed away.

“We’ll find a way.”

* * *

“ETA five minutes.” Commander Wolf said as my crew filtered in, a stressed look on her face. “Shall we go over the plan?”

“No need,” I bit out, eyes on the heavily tempered glass as the stars flew past us. “Husky, Eagle, take us out of the slipstream on my mark.”

“ETA three minutes.” Iggy supplied while Moth stuffed as many loose papers into folders as he could.

“Now.” I ordered, jolting in place as we came to a halt just behind Titan, which was a bit close for comfort. “Bloody hell, Jupiter moved so much,”

“Without the gravitational pull of the sun, the planets all dispersed.” Ladybug said from the other side of Iggy. “It looks like Venus and Mars have collided.” she noted as the four pilots carefully made our way through the rubble that was once the Red Planet and the Morning and Evening Star.

“Can our sensors find Earth?” I asked, sharing a look with the other commander.

“I’m calibrating the systems now to compensate for the destruction of Mars and Venus.” Fox answered, and for a tense few moments, I was left to pace in front of my desk, the rustling to papers and typing of keys filling the air. “Earth has been located Commander Draco. It’s in quadrant 56… close to where the sun used to be, ma’am.”

I blanched as well as several others. “It’s near the blackhole?” I whispered in horror. “If we take the ship down, it’s never going to come back up.”

“We’ll have to modify the plan.” Wolf muttered, but I shook my head, turning my gaze towards the glass, towards the decrepit remains that we once called home.

“We don’t have time, Wolf. We ran out of time seventeen years ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact for the first arc climax: "Radioactive" Imagine Dragons (ft. The Macy Kate Band & Kurt Schneider) ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6qFCqOy3HU1)) is the theme song for the next two chapters! Incidentally, Macy Kate in this video is also how I imagine Annabelle looking like when her hair is down and not in her messy bun.


	9. 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Climax, Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warezbgx sdv zdfilkj so my internet borked again. Anyways, here's part 2, sorry for the delay

Weightlessness, that split second of zero-g.

It’s something a normal human in 2009 could only come across for a split second on amusement rides. It’s something I never had an issue with… until now.

 _Now_ , as the ship was forced to roll, and the screws holding my desk snapped.

 _Now_ , as the gravity suddenly slammed us on Team Zulu onto the ceiling, which was currently the floor.

 _Now_ , as I could faintly hear the sounds of gunfire and screams from my earbuds a few feet away.

 **_Now_ ** , as the 400 pound wooden desk slammed into my abdomen.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

There’s probably some of you who are new to my story, who don’t know the hardships humanity has gone through within these last few years, so allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Annabelle Josephine Lennox, daughter of William and Sarah Lennox. I’m Commander Draco, one of ten Commanders aboard the ship _Lythrix_. I’m one of 80,150 humans that survived Earth’s destruction at the hands of the Decepticons.

We sought out the Autobots after they left Earth, forced away by our own hand. Our hope was that Optimus Prime and his soldiers would be able to forgive us, to have an alliship again. Our hope, it seemed, was in vain for Optimus had offlined shortly after leaving our world. Then, a ray of hope: Primus, the Cybertronian version of God, came to me and granted me Prime-ship and revealed that there was a way to bring back a fallen Prime.

Truly, I do not know what we were thinking. We should have gone to the Rhaki galaxy like Scorpion kept suggesting. Instead, we schemed and debated, and in the end, we thought we were ready.

We thought we could take the Earth back.

My name is Annabelle Lennox, and _we were wrong_.

* * *

  _ **Two**_ ** _hours earlier_**

* * *

 

“ _Strike Team Zulu, this is Strike Team Echo. lift off is successful. ETA forty-five minutes until landing, over._ ”

I let out a sigh of relief when Scorpion’s voice crackled to life over the comms. With a nod, Iggy turned on our side of the radio while I spoke. “Roger that Strike Team Echo. We’ll be monitoring your progress from the nest, over.”

“ _Is that what we’re calling it now?_ ” He asked, voice teasing. I rolled my eyes, well aware of the smile on my face. “ _I like it, makes it sound all nice and homey. Does this mean you’ve picked a date then hun?_ ”

“Keep unnecessary chatter off the comms Scorpion, _over_.” I snarked back before nodding to Iggy, who turned off our end.

* * *

He let out a laugh at her tone, features pulled back into a wide grin as he made his way down the row, his mood infecting the others as he passed them. “Who’s ready to give The Fallen an asswhoopin’ he won’t forget?!” He heard his team whoop in agreement before the shuttle gave a lurch, signalling that they were entering what little atmosphere there was left.

“You gonna give us a speech?” Bear grinned, and a few others caught on. Soon, the entire team was chanting ‘Speech, speech, speech!’ while he was left standing in the aisle with a bemused expression.

“I don’t even have one prepared,” he told them, but if anything, it just made them grow louder. “Ok, ok settle down!” Scorpion reached up to run his hands through his hair, quietly thinking. “I won’t ask you to do anything, you guys know that. You’re friends, family… brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, mothers, fathers. Hell, most of you are older than me and Commander Draco, and you still look to us for guidance. It’s like the Commander said: There’s no guarantee we’ll even be able to get close to New Kaon, let alone The Matrix.

“We have three hours. After that, NK is getting bombed. I don’t know if some of you signed up because you thought it would be easy, or if you thought that maybe you could play “Big Damn Hero”, but… when it hits the two hour mark, you leave at city and get to you rendezvous spots, understand?”

“Yessir,” was echoed around the shuttle, which gave another lurch, signalling him to take his seat and put his helmet on.

“Scorpion?” Bear said as he passed him. “The same goes for you, ok? Don’t make me drag your ass out of that hell-hole because you wanted to impress your girl.” He searched the man’s face before nodding.

“I’ll keep it in mind Commander.”

* * *

Earth was approximately 4.543 billion years old. It once held 6.85 billion human with countless other species. Alternatively called Terra, it was part of a 9 planet system which orbited around a yellow star. For Humanity, it was the only planet that they could live on within light years. Many believed humanity would live to see the Sun eat the solar system when it went Supernova, and unfortunately, that did not happen.

17 years ago, The Fallen, once known as Megatronus Prime, activated The Harvester and imploded the yellow star that life on Earth depended on. For some, it was instant death, but for others, it meant barely clinging on to what was left. Rather than going supernova, it became a blackhole, a time eater. For 17 years, it had been consuming all around it.

For 17 years, Earth has slowly been drifting towards it, and for the first time in 3 years, a human stepped foot onto the wasteland of the planet, nightvision activated as they glanced around. Motioning to the others, they slowly started to move, forming small groups of two.

For 3 years, Earth had been the Decepticon’s home world, and now, humanity was taking it _back_.

* * *

I bit my lip as I paced back and forth, sharing uneasy glanced with those on the bridge.

“ _Zulu, this is Echo. November Kilo is empty. I repeat, November Kilo is empty.  Signs for Tango Michael point to the center, over._ ”

Jumping at the sudden activity, I could feel my blood run cold. Dragonstorm was on Earth alongside Echo to help with distraction, leaving Zulu, who were currently floating around Earth’s orbit in the complete dark in hopes of not being detected, completely defenceless.

“Activate shields and weapons.” I rasped out. They looked at me in confusion just as the ship began to rumble. “ _Activate shields and weapons NOW!_ ”

“Echo, it’s a trap! I repeated, it’s a trap! Decepticons are targeting Zulu! Requesting immediate backup!”

* * *

_“Echo, it’s a trap! I repeat, it’s a trap! Decepticons are targetting Zu-!_ ”

The radio cut out just as the city lit up, leaving the humans to cry out out in pain as their night vision lit up pure white. Only by sure luck was Scorpion, dressed in all black with the silver stinger of his chosen animal as a patch on his right arm, was able to input the override all command that switched it back to regular view.

Seconds later, gunfire lit up both Earth and sky in a desperate battle of survival.

* * *

It was a battle we weren’t winning.

I knew that, and I also knew why the Decepticons were even bothering to personally attack _Lythrix_ . _Me_. If Scorpion and I had swapped places, if I had been leading the assault team…

They probably would’ve been blown out of the sky still, but would it have been instantaneous? Or would it have been longer than we lasted?

“Prepare the Jettison pods.” I ordered, getting wide eyed looks. “Echo hasn’t responded and the Decepticons are cunning. They would’ve cut communications and then attacked.”

“Assume dead unless otherwise proven,” someone whispered Lythrix’s Horrid Code, something that I had quickly thrown out as soon as I took command. “Why are you bringing it up?”

“Because you’re going to be using it,” I answered, head hanging, but still glancing around. “On me.”

“What, no!” Ladybug protested.

“It’s the only way to ensure Humanity’s survival. Jettison pods are impossible to track unless you know the alternating codes.” I took a deep breath and smiled at them sadly. “ _Lythrix_ was designed that, if need be, only one would be able to pilot the complete system. It… it’s been an honor, serving with you all. Now _go_.” With a bittersweet look, I watched them share glanced. “That’s my one and only order. Get in the pods and never look back.”

“I… we…” I watched as they floundered, mouths popped up, trying to think of some excuse. And, one by one, I could see that light in their eyes break, until...

“ _ Team Zulu do you hear us?! Are you there?! _ ”

“Team Zulu responding Echo. Shields at half capacity and weapons charging, Commander.” Iggy directed the last bit at me and I winced. “Focus on retreating Team Echo. Extraction set to happen in one hour.” I could hear everyone frantically trying to do their jobs and felt a fresh wave of self-hatred in me. The bridge, which was lit only enough to allow us to see what we were typing, suddenly lit up a blood curdling red that I will always remember.

Slowly looking up from my own cracked monitor, I stood as The Fallen’s facial plates stared back.  _ I guess we can call off the BOLO put on him _ , I thought meekly as his servos reached up and started to  _ pull _ , sending the objects not bolted down flying all over the place.

“Permission to scream?” Mouse asked quietly.

“Permission granted.” I answered, sounding just as meek. A second later, however, we were  _ all _ screaming as  _ Lythrix _ was suddenly pushed down further. My footing slipped, and my arms were sliced against the grating as I slammed through the back of the desk, blanching as my combat books slammed into the heavily tempered glass of our viewing platform.

“ _ Commander! _ ” Jaguar cried, and as she was the closest to me, she tried to reach out, but I shook my head and she caught the hint, putting her hand back where she had it.

“ _ You are the mighty leader, yet you are so young. My little pet, how you’ve grown _ .”

“Fuck you,” I hissed, a snarl on my face. “I’m no one’s pet!”

“ _ Is that so? If you are not a pet, you are a  _ pest _ , and pests must be dealt with, less they multiply. _ ”

_ Lythrix _ suddenly went another 90 degrees and I was airborne for a brief moment before I slammed into the floor. Rolling over with a groan, I glared up at the black mech, who held a smirk on his face before roughly pushing up, sending me sliding on a much more smoother surface than before. Looking back, I saw blood smears from my cuts against the ceiling and grimaced before the ship suddenly shook, sending the rest of my team members falling to the floor, er, ceiling.

“What’s that noise?” Llama whispered, and we all went silent, holding our breaths. A few inches away from my fingertips were my headphones, where I could hear gunfire and screams. But, louder than that, right above us was…

Our desks, which were groaning and slowly slipping down the give the bolts had… except for mine.

Mine, the biggest, heaviest, meaniest looking desk…  _ snapped _ the rods.

With a cry of _ “COMMANDER! _ ”,  _ Lythrix _ ’s engines gave, and zero-g occured as the glass slowly revealed an orange tinge.

“ _ We were wrong to come here, we’re we papa? _ ” I rasped out, chest burning with even the thought of  _ breathing _ before my vision gave into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact for the chapter: I had to google "Military Callsigns" and "Army hand signals" whilst watching Jericho before deciding it really just wasn't worth being put on a watch list and had to cut the scene where Strike Team Echo came across the ruins of a city. If y'all would like me to get put on the list anyways, lemme know and I can put the little mini-chapter up as a spin-off fic.
> 
> Anyways, if you like the fun-fact of the story, and this chapter, please leave a follow or even comment and give it a favorite!


	10. 9 {Arc 1 Ending}

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Climax, Part 3  
> Arc 1 Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's thursday. Y'know, the day I'm supposed to update on? lol, anyways, after this chapter, I'll be taking another small break to work out a few kinks I'm finding in Arc 2, but rest assured, WWW isn't over yet!

The first thing I heard when I woke up was the harsh whistling of the wind, far too loud for comfort. It hurt to breathe, but I couldn't tell if it was because I had a broken rib and punctured lung, if it was from the Earth's sad atmosphere or a mixture of both. I could feel the side of my desk against my legs, and I did my best to twist around, wincing as I moved.

"Zu-zulu s-soundoff." I rasped out. "Dragon."

"Jaguar,"

"Iguana,"

"Ladybug,"

"Wolf,"

"Fox."

"Viper,"

"L-Llama." I gritted my teeth at the silence that followed.

"Moth, s-soundoffs usually mean answering," Iggy mumbled. "C'mon, wake up."  _No… no, not Moth_. I saw my headphones a little ways away, and as I reached for them, it seemed like everything was being pulled the wrong way.

"Commander, are you-?"

"I'll be fine Jaguar," I gritted out, hissing as I found out the headphones were  _just_ out of reach of my left arm… Scrunching up my nose, I pressed the joint where my right elbow once was, grimacing as a hiss filled the air alongside the wind. Pulling the prosthetic away I used it to pull the headphones closer, and faintly, I could hear Wolf and Fox making uneasy noises. "Strike Team Echo, Dragonstorm, do you copy?  _Lythrix_  has crashed. Survivors on board are in need of immediate rescue." Shifting my right leg proved to be an issue, as I could tell the rod used as my femur was somehow snapped. "I'm going to try and get the desks off of us, ok?" When I heard everyone else agree, I got myself ready and began to push up, gritting my teeth to the point where they accidentally sliced my tongue.

With a pained noise, I managed to finished kicking the desk off enough to pull myself away before it slammed back onto the floor-ceiling. "Commander, your injuries?"

"Not worth any worry, considering we just crashed into Earth from the thermosphere and are currently on a radiated, wasteland of a planet without any protection." I wheezed out, reconnecting my right arm and flexing my fingers. Moving backwards, I used the desk to brace myself and stood, looking around the damaged room. Using some broken beams as a pair of crutches, I made my way towards Iggy and Moth, both still breathing, though the latter was doing so shallowly. "But seriously though, how the hell did we not burn up?"

"Sheer dumb luck." Viper answered, pushing his own desk off of him. Unlike us, his didn't have a back, and it had landed to where the top was a few inches away of his feet. He had been getting his arms free when I had gotten up. He helped the others as I carefully got to work with Iggy and Moth.

"How are you holding up?" I asked towards the shaking teen, who gave a weak smile. "Yeah, me too. Once we get you two uncovered we'll head towards the launch bays, ok? The rest of the crew will find us there." The tension thickened as everyone else came over and helped ease the desk off of them, Jaguar and Viper immediately picking the two up. Wolf went to my left while Ladybug went to my right, and Fox held up a bleeding Llama. "Right… c'mon everyone. Launch Bay One."

* * *

Of 40 that were on the ship, only 14 survived. The 8 conscious on the bridge and 6 others who had been in some of the smaller hallways when The Fallen attacked.

Of the 40 that went on Strike Team Echo, only 6 came back, and even then Huskie died a few moments after being set down.

"They're going to bomb the ship." Commander Draco murmured from where Mantis was bracing her left leg, bandages covering the majority of her torso from where the grating had scraped her skin off. "The Fallen is too smart of not do that."

"But Megatron is too prideful to believe he didn't kill all of us in someway before we reached the ship." Scorpion countered in a small murmur, holding his fiancee's hand, not even wincing as she painfully squeezed it as the brace was tightened. "If we can get him to snap-."

"The Fallen would just kill him. He only sees means to an end. If someone stops being useful… they get killed. We  _need_  that Matrix… this can't end like this…" Slowly, the blonde looked up, tears in her nearly unnatural blue eyes. "Not like this…"

“We’ll think of something.” He told her. “It’s _not_ going to end here, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” she whispered, shaking her head.

 _Primus, please, what am I to do? Have I condemned those I love to die?_ Then, almost distantly, she found herself slowly remembering his words to her.

“ _You are the last hope of many, including me, Dear Child. You are right to believe that there is another way, but the path before you is dangerous, and lonely, as such is being the price of Prime._ ”

“I know what to do,” she murmured, partially in shock. “Robbie, do you remember what Stormreign told us about the Hyper Engines?”

“That tampering with them could create a hole in space and time?” He repeated, brows furrowing. “How is that - _Oh_ , yeah, that would work… but I’m the only one who knows how to access it, and… I’m not a Prime, just a plain ol’ human.”

“But you’ll be with me.” Annabelle said, squeezing her hand and giving Mantis a grateful smile as Robbie helped her up, putting her left arm over his shoulders as his right found her waist.

As she sat down near one of the engines, she felt her eyes grow misty as the Head Engineer got to work. “Robbie I… probably won’t see you again.” He paused and looked up at her, eyes filled with confusion and worry. “The path of a Prime… it’s dangerous. Optimus was supposed to have a mate, but he died before they could get married, and Bumblebee, his son, watched it happen. Sentinel had a twin who went crazy and ripped out his own spark in front of him. Nova Prime grew so prideful that he became Nemesis Prime and killed most of his followers. Prima lost all of his siblings when Megatronus Prime fell, and Primus… both he and his brother are currently on the final stages between life and death.

“It’s almost a given rule that Primes _can’t_ be happy, no matter what. This timeline, this world… it wasn’t supposed to happen. We were supposed to live happily with our birth families and not know about the horrors of the world until we were older. But Fate set her sights on me, and because I was happy, everything had to be destroyed.”

“Annie, you can’t possibly mean that.” Robbie said quietly, but she shook her head, pulling down her messy bun and taking off her silver command circlet.

“The Decepticons rediscovered Earth just as I was born.” She finally answered. “They first attacked in 2007 when Papa was about to come home. They destroyed Earth in 2009 when I found out that Ironhide was sentient. There is a _pattern_ there, Robert. Why are you so scared to see it?” She asked, perhaps a bit desperately.

“Because seeing it would be agreeing that you are bad,” he said. “And you are anything but bad. Primus chose you to be the next Prime; he chose _you_ to save us all. You’re a hero, Annie, not a blight. Never a blight.” Reaching down, she cupped his cheek and smiled sadly.

“I still don’t want you in here when the engine explodes.” she told him, her voice thick. “Someone who knows the plan has to stay behind, even if…” He nodded, covering her hand with his and kissing her palm.

“We will survive this, Annabelle Lennox. Just you wait.” At those words, he helped her down from the catwalk and finished rigging the engine. “I’ll see you on the other side sweetheart.”

She watched as he walked away, tears streaming down both of their faces as the engine steadily beeped with the timer. “I’ll always love you,” she whispered as he activated the bulkheads and they slammed the blast doors shut. “No matter what may come.”

A high pitch ringing forced her to squeeze her eyes shut and the white light over took all of her sense.

* * *

**_Diego Garcia, August 2nd, 2008_ **

* * *

Gasping out, a lone figure washed ashore on a beach, covered in kelp and cuts, her blue eyes wide and glowing as she stared at the blue sky. Around her were yells of shock as both a tactical and medical team rushed towards her. As she turned her head and connected eyes with a human who had green eyes and black hair, the universe as a whole gave a shudder.

The Oracle Prime had arrived.

_ The End was nigh.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact of the chapter: There are two alternative endings to Arc 1. Rather than choose two bad ones, I created a third: this one! :)
> 
> Please leave a review telling me what you think or if you have any ideas/theories on what might happen, and thank you so much for reading We Were Wrong Arc 1!


	11. 10 (ARC 2 OPENING)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A story is told and the Dragon Commander begins to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahahahahahahah I'm so late with this chapter it ain't funny, I'm sorry y'all. Lennox (Will) just wouldn't agree with me when it came to his scenes needing to be written D:

_The Big Bang._

_Many theorize it was the start of everything, and they would be correct._

_It was the start of galaxies, solar systems, planets and, most importantly,_  Life _._

_Planets bloomed with their own special foliage, and as time passed, a race known as Creators came into existence. No one knows who, or what, caused them to become, they just simply… appeared._

_Many chose a planet and began to sow seeds of Civilization, most of those choosing not to appear in front of their creations. The others, though, thought they should know where they came from, and how they came to be._

_Perhaps the most famous of them were three brothers; an older brother and a set of twins. The twins fought often, though they agreed that their creations should not be of flesh and blood, but of metal and Energon. The older brother made camp on an organic planet systems away and began experimenting, leaving the two to their own devices, which he soon learned was a mistake._

_A mistake that their creations would pay for millennia later._

_The two brothers, called Primus and Unicron by their creations, fought for 200 orbital cycles, merely a blink of an eye for Creators, but for their creations, it was the First War._

_The first Thirteen of these creations stepped forward and claimed the title of the Dynasty of Primes, each watching over a different sector of their planet, Cybertron, while the Creators were gone. Soon, Primus called forth these Thirteen, and with their help, they were able to stop Unicron from poisoning the Energon deep within Cybertron - the life blood of the Cybertronians._

_But this defeat came with a cost - Unicron was severely wounded, dying, even._

_His older brother, who had been named many things by his creations, found him floating in space, barely functioning. Full of pain and sorrow, the older brother put him in a deep healing trance and encased Unicron in his world, Earth, until he was fully healed._

_Then, something changed on Cybertron._

_A Prime had fallen and killed five of his siblings before gravely wounding Primus as well. The Creator followed his older brother's lead and encased himself in the center of Cybertron as The Fallen left the planet._

_Many Creators didn't believe that the mech could harm or even kill them, so as they went to confront him and his followers, one by one they fell, and the Creator race drew closer to extinction._

_The Fallen was soon stopped, in a fit of irony, on Earth by his other 6 siblings, who hid the Creator Killing weapon they had dubbed as 'The Matrix of Leadership', for whoever could wield it without corruption was fit to be a Prime._

_However, the Matrix isn't only just a weapon of mass destruction; it can bring back those who have died before their time._

_When I was four, the Matrix of Leadership was found again, and it was used to cause the destruction of Earth's Sun, which wiped out almost all of Humanity. Only 80,075 remain, scattered throughout of time and space._

_My mission is simple: Get the Matrix before The Fallen can, however…_

_It's hard, living with the shadows and ashes of everyone who believed in you, especially when I look around and see everyone is still alive._

* * *

“State your name, rank and occupation.” the voice behind the blinding light said, making me squint my eyes.

“Josephine West, Commander,” I mumbled. “And you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Try us,” the voice challenged, making me sigh.

“I am in charge of over 80 thousand humans to ensure they do not die in cryosleep as we try to find a new planet to call him,”I could feel the disbelief, making me smirk. “This is, of course, in 2026 after The Fallen destroys Earth.”

“ _The Fallen_ , who is that? Why do we keep getting threats about him?”

I leaned forward and linked my hands while raising an eyebrow. “Those are not threats, but warnings. The Fallen, well, he has some bad history with Earth. Long story short, he’s out to destroy our sun and kill those Cybertronians who don’t agree with his ideals.”

“And you know this how?” The light shut off and I blinked rapidly, heart freezing as I saw the man in front of me, recognizing him instantly. “You have information not even the Decepticons know. Why is that?”

 _Papa…_ I thought, unable to stop my small distressed noise before shaking my head. “I was chosen; sent back to try and stop The Fallen before it’s too late.”

“And why should we believe you?” At his tense voice, I slowly reached up around my neck and tugged on the chains, pulling out the dogtags and locket I had been given. “But those are-,”

“Yours and Captain Robert Epps’s dogtags? Yes. And, if you look in the locket… please keep this information to yourself for now, but I think you can make the connection easily.”

He took the chains as I slipped them off, and as soon as the locket popped open, I saw him pale, eyes darting between me and the old family photo I had in there. “How-?”

“My father gave it to me when I was a toddler,” I hinted. “It’s one of the last few things of his we were able to salvage when The Fallen attacked.” The man closed his hands around the objects as the door opened, revealing familiar holoforms that had me biting back a teary grin.

“The Generals want to talk to her,” Ironhide’s holoform grunted out.  _ Plural, which means Optimus had to have been given that or it’s a code name. Either way, I’m getting to talk to them; surely that means I can explain the story better. I’ll just not… tell them who I really am. _

“She’s trustworthy for now.”  Papa -  _ Major Lennox _ said, looking at me with inquisitive green eyes. “How did you get here?”

“Oh, my fiance and I just exploded a couple of Hyper Engines, nothing too fancy,” I shrugged with a small grin as I saw Ironhide’s jaw drop. “Any chance I could at least have my leg back? I would like to stand when I talk to your, ah,  _ generals _ .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Originally, I was going to have a completely different Arc 2, but it story just wouldn't flow without the Dynamic Duo. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a review telling me what you think about the latest update, or what you think might happen!


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